190 Dead In Mumbai Train Bombings

190 Dead in Mumbai Train Bombings

The likelihood is that the sophisticated coordinated attack on the trains in India’s western commercial hub of Mumbai (Bombay) was carried out by al-Qaeda-linked groups seeking the independence of Muslim-majority Kashmir from India.

It is also possible that they are seeking, as Peter Bergen suggested on CNN, to encourage Hindus to attack Muslims, which will stampede the Muslims of India into the embrace of radical Islam (not a taste most of them have had in the past). Frustrated extremists are always trying to think up ways to make others feel their frustration and join their cause.

In other words, the best counter-terrorism India could do in this instance is to practice restraint and, after a decent interval, to go back to the negotiating table with Pakistan over Kashmir.

Al-Qaeda and its like thrive on cowboy diplomacy and reprisals.